LESSON 1: Pastoral Circle

➢ Pastoral Circle (circle of proxis) - introduced in the book > Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice by Joe
Holland and Pete Hennot.
- Concerned about the imporenishment of people, development and social transformation
- A tool that asides us in making good social judgements on issues that impact a community.

1. Insertion (what is happening here?) - The first step in the process—and the basis for any action. We
identify our experience of social issues in our family, community, and world.
2. Analysis (why is it happening?) - widening our reflection on our experience to search out the
relationships between values, events, structures, systems, ideologies.
3. Theological reflection (what does it mean?) - engages people in exploring the issue from the
perspective of faith—the Bible, the social teachings of a denomination, the resources of the Christian
tradition, and the lived faith of the church community. Faith-based perspective
4. Action (what should we do about it?) - means helping people survive their present crisis or need and
addressing the root causes of the problems. Working for social change and serving those in need.

LESSON 2: Relation and Separation of Church and State

Love Hate Relationship: Church and State (Autonomy)
I. Principles of the Relationship:
1. Transcendence of the Church in Political Matters
2. Cooperation of Church and State in the service of the human person
3. Freedom of the Church
Foundation:
❖ The Theological Foundation - comes from the mandate of Christ to preach the Gospel
and to observe His commandments
❖ The Secular Foundation - by Murray, the secular grounds are the Truth-foundation,
Justice-goal, love-civic friendship, freedom which is at once its goal and its method of
pursuing the goal of justice

II. Separation of Church and State:

First: The constitutional provision basically means that the State is autonomous and independent from the
Church.
1) There can be no official State religion and the State shall not give preference for any religion;
2) No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights; and
3) No public money or property shall be appropriated for the benefit of any church, sect or denomination.

Second: The Church fully agrees with the principle of separation of Church and State, but this does not mean
the absence of dialogue between religion and politics, and between Church and State

Third: Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

➢ Principles of Separation - PH constitutional Article 2, Section 6

Politics may be an important element of a state, but this doesn’t stop the Church from intervening into its
affairs. However, needs to be clarified. In the perspective of Relationship, the Church and state can work. The
state has the obligation to maintain in its utmost sense the cleanliness and honest election. Furthermore, in the
moral side of politics, the Church has the responsibility in helping the state in forming the conscience of the
people upon practicing their right to Vote
 LESSON 3: The Common Good
➢ Common Good - indicates “the sum total of social conditions which allow people in a community, either as
groups or as individuals, to reach their full human potential and fulfill their human dignity.”
- To promote fairness, justice, and equality in the society
- Can be shared without diminishing value

2 ways to understand common good:

1. Ideal - where all
2. Moral measure - based on action if good or bad

The trifecta
❖ Private good (individual) - benefits that are receive from actions
❖ Greater Good (group) - benefits of the greater number of people in the society

3 ELEMENTS OF COMMON GOOD

1. Fundamental Rights - the natural freedom necessary for the development of the human vocation.
2. Basic needs/necessity - the social wellbeing and development of someone to have ready access to
the fulfilment of their dignity as a person
3. Peace/order - the stability and security of a just order

LESSON 4: Human Dignity

➢ Human Dignity - is the state of being worthy of honour or respect
- Human beings deserve respect and protection regardless of their race, gender, or social status.
- This principle has practical implications for how we treat others in our daily lives.
- Every person has inherentt value .
- This principle is rooted in the notion that we are created in the image and likeness of God.

I. Principle of Human Dignity

★ Created in the image and likeness of God (Imago Dei)
The person is capable:
(1) of self-knowledge,
(2) of self-possession and
(3) of freely giving himself and entering communion with others and to the environment.

★ Human Dignity is inherent and inalienable

- Your are meant to be respected because you are a person with dignity by virtue of being a human person.
- Each human person has an inherent worth and must be free from any form of manipulation and exploitation.

★ An essential aspect of our humanity (the sacredness of human life and rights)
- Each human life is sacred because it comes from God.
- Our society established a government to protect these rights to uphold the sanctity of human person.

6 SPECIFICATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS [According to Pope John Paul II (Centesimus Annus)]

1. The right to life
2. The right to live
3. The right to freely establish a family
4. The right to share in the work
5. The right to develop one’s intelligence
6. The right to religious freedom
★ Human person as stewards (Human Dignity must be recognized and upheld)
- Human life and dignity are deeply affected by whether the natural world flourishes of suffers

THE ROLE OF HUMAN PERSON IN OUR SOCIETY

1. Supports the church and government
2. Stewards of creation
3. Promotes common good
4. Protects human rights
5. Voice of the voiceless
6. Peacemakers
7. Serves the needy

LESSON 5:PEACE
Peace - is an essential element Common Good that has been elusive for the people of Mindanao. For
decades, this region in the Philippines has been plagued by conflict and violence, leading to countless deaths
and untold suffering. The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated.

PEACE ACCORDING TO SOCIOLOGY

Peace is the absence of violence (not only personal or direct violence but also structural or indirect violence)
and the presence of social justice. Structural violence also led to death and suffering because of the conditions
that resulted from it: extreme poverty, starvation, discrimination against minority groups, and denial of human
rights.

(meaning - we cannot say that just because there is no war, there is peace. as long as there is corruption,
poverty, and violence in any form, we cannot say a place is peaceful.)

PEACE ACCORDING TO CHURCH

Peace is not merely the absence of war. It represents the fullness of life; it is founded on a correct
understanding of the human person and requires establishing an order based on justice and charity. Peace is
the fruit of justice and love. justice is giving what is due to god and to your neighbor. and when we act out of
love,

The importance of human dignity and respect for human rights are essential elements for promoting peace.

3 WAYS TO PEACE BUILDING

1. Jesus’ approach 2. Works of Justice 3. Interreligious dialogue

1. JESUS APPROACH
Rejection of violence. the church love and reconciliation rather than use of transforming initiatives people
believes that violence is never a retaliation - love are called to engage in
proper response. violence is evil of neighbor, even your enemy, is peacemaking actively. jesus
because it the heart of the christian message told his disciples to respond to
destroys the dignity, life, and and is considered jesus' most violence by taking unexpected,
freedom of human beings. important commandment. surprising initiatives. this
teaching means taking positive
initiatives to 'neutralize’ situations of
violence and injustice so that the
transforming message of god's love can
take root.
 2. THE FRUIT OF JUSTICE AND LOVE
"true peace cannot be achieved until there is the world will never be the dwelling place of peace till
justice for all." “if you want peace, work for peace has found a home in the heart of every man,
justice. till every man preserves in himself the order ordained
" by god to be preserved.
- (gaudium et spes 78, pope paul vi) - pacem in terris

3. INTERRRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
It is a concrete response of the church towards peace in mindanao: dialogue of everyday life, dialogue of
action, dialogue of religious experience, dialogue of theological exchange.

a. Dialogue of Everyday Life

b. Dialogue of Action
c. Dialogue of Religious Experience
d. Dialogue of Theological Exchange

Open-mindedness: Appreciate the differences and identify points of convergence.

DIALOGUE OF EVERYDAY LIFE: it is nothing but DIALOGUE OF ACTION: a way of service to other
the way we respect people who belong to a different people despite the religious affiliations of those we
brotherhood or a different faith. are helping. it’s a way of life that place humanity
before religion.

DIALOGUE OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE: the DIALOGUE OF THEOLOGICAL EXCHANGE: it

dialogue of religious experience is when people takes place if people from different religions gather,
experience the goodness of other religion. the main talk, listen and appreciate each
thing here is that there is no conversion. other’s faith without insisting that one’s faith is
superior from others.